Diablo 3’s Anniversary Event: The Darkening of Tristram

If you haven’t realised, Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo franchise is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. Remember the good old days when you were playing this game probably after school at your friend’s place? Isn’t it amazing that 20 years down the road and you are still playing the same game but maybe in the comforts of your own home with your son sitting beside you? If you haven’t been playing this game for a while (my last login was actually over 200 days ago), don’t worry, Blizzard has a good reason to bring you back.

To celebrate this milestone, Diablo launched its newest Patch 2.4.3 and they decided to walk you down memory lane. If you notice from the screenshot above, the layout of your skills as well as the graphics actually belong to the good old Diablo 1. If you can’t remember because that’s how long it has been, I’m now telling you that it is from Diablo 1.

Of course, that’s not all that is for this update. Like I mentioned earlier, Blizzard has a reason to bring you back and that is ….*drum roll*

Your very own pet COW! (P.S. There is no cow level)

How Do I Get There?

Simply logon and start a game on adventure mode. Teleport yourself to Act I. At The Old Ruins waypoint, you’ll find a pentagram on the map labeled ‘The Darkening of Tristram’. Explore the map a little, it’s not that big a map so there’s no reason that you’ll miss it. You will then find a town portal with the label of ‘Tristram’. Enter the portal and “BOOM”, the new-old pixelated look for the game. Welcome to 1996 all over again.

And here are a list of things that you probably want to look out for as well.

Ogden’s Sign and Ogden’s Brew (Banners): Simply kill all four of the bosses in Labyrinth and you will automatically earn these two banners. It’s a 16 level map but it ain’t exactly big so take your time and have fun.

Red Soul Shard (Transmog): You will get this after slaying The Dark Lord. It can be used to transmog head slot equipment. After killing The Dark Lord, you will even get to watch the classic ending of the game.

The Butcher’s Cleaver (Transmog): Of course, it’s a drop off from none other than The Butcher. It can be used to transmog 1-handed axes, swords, and maces. Sadly this weapon ain’t a legendary or a weapon good enough for you to use it but I must say I had fun killing him. (That sounded wrong). And yes, FRESH MEAT!

Wirt’s Leg (Transmog): This is a craftable weapon and also the key to your very own Royal Calf (Pet cow) and can be used to transmog 1-handed axes, swords, and maces.

In Level 9 of Labyrinth, find the Black Mushroom and click on it to obtain a Rotten Mushroom.

Go back to Old Tristram and find Adria’s Hut. Throw the Rotten Mushroom inside the cauldron to obtain Witch’s Brew.

Click the four corpses in town, when you hover over the corpses, there are actually clue on who to click first but if you are lazy, here’s the order: Farnham, Ogden, Pepin, and Griswold. W The last corpse will drop the plan for Wirt’s Leg.

Then you can teleport back to town and teach it to the Blacksmith. You’ll find the plans under the Maces section.

To avoid walking down the levels twice, I suggest you kill off the Dark Lord at level 16 before trying to complete this quest.

If the instruction is too much for you in text, here’s a relatively good video tutorial.

The Royal Calf (Pet): Salvaging Wirt’s Leg in town at the blacksmith gives you the Map of the Stars, which reads 2-1-3. Go back to Adria’s Hut and click on the cow corpses in this order: middle, left, then right. If you already clicked on it before you got the Map of the Stars, don’t worry, just restart the game and do it again. (Want to make a guess how I found out?) This will open the Abandoned Farmstead portal. Head through the portal and find Wirt’s Stash. Open the chest to get the Cow Pet Trinket and right-click it to earn the Royal Calf. Nope, this is still NOT the cow level.

The Butcher (Pet): Simply clear the dungeon with a fresh level 1 character solo, you gain the ‘An Eerie Red Glow Blurs Your Vision’ achievement and the Butcher pet. It’s like you just installed your Diablo 1 and experiencing the game like you first did 20 years ago. To make the experience even better, do not use your paragon points! Which obviously I have not completed and will be doing the moment I get this post published.

Good News,

If you do not even have Diablo 3 and its expansion which was launched in 2012 and 2014 respectively, there is an anniversary discount for new gamers too!

Save 33% on the Diablo III: Battle Chest, which includes both Diablo III and the Reaper of Souls expansion set in one definitive volume!